3rd Video

Critical Regionalism Revisited

Through the 20th and the 21th century, the architecture of the modern movement was the
reference for many architects, globalized architecture also took over in that period, same
buildings would be seen in Europe or in Asia no what matter the contextual elements are,
therefore the local, cultural contexts are neglected. This is a way of situating the notion of
critical regionalism.

I’d define critical regionalism with the answers of those 2 questions, how to follow modern
architecture without becoming regressive, how to be modern without subverting to globalized
architecture.
Critical regionalism emerged in the Venice architectural biennale (some kind of art exhibition)
an art called the presence of the past by Paolo Portuguese.
Portuguese’s idea about new architecture was to reconstruct the past/ classical elements of
architecture and shape it as new architecture, we can see that philosophy looking at the Strada
Novissima
d

Kenneth Frampton, a critic architect did not agree that going beyond modernist architecture
should be a reconstructment of the past architecture and said that there is another way and his
proposal was the critical regionalsim.
Is his publishes he brought up what’s called resistance, the resistance of architecture, about it
he said even though architecture’s culture becomes a global matter, local characteristics/
elements still matters.

Another concept he brought up which he called Arriere-garde saying that architecture shouldn’t
only believe in the idea of progress which is part of modernity and not only looking at the past,
it should be in the middle of the two approcahes.
World culture Frampton says that critical regionalism cannot be located in a certain part of the
world because he believes that it can mediate between local and universal architecture, so
every part in the world will merge their own cultural local elements with the universal culture
of architecture.
Frampton give the backsvared church as an example of combining the rationaliry of regulating
the building using prefabriacted elements and on the othe hand the irrationality of the
bulding’s shape.
Frampton claims that critical regionalism is a correction of the modern architecture’s
abstraction of the nature’s role in architecture.
Starting with topography he support his claims by giving the Acropolis project in Athenas by
Dimitris Pikionis as an example, the project is basically a ground, a designed public space that
responds to the landscape around it or even merge with it
Secondly he mentions context and gives Alvaro Siza’s bouka residents association housing as an
example where the architect redefined the perimeter blocks in his own way but contexted it
with the surrounding blocks, the blocks also contexted with daily used pedestrian’s ways that
locals use as shortcuts.

Another example of context was the calle Nicaragua apartments by Ricardo Bofill, its idea was
about creating an urban corner and relate to local deffinitions of public and private.
This project contained large outer spaces, so the architect found his way putting a border
between the public and the private, by putting screens of brick preserving the outer space soul
and at the same time protecting its privacy.
- On climate basis he gave a house design by Coderch, the house looks like a modern approach
design but it the modern architecture elements were used as shading elements like the shutters
and the cantilever roof

- Light
First from Codrech
Defining the façade design with shutters meanwhile controlling the light.
In the 2nd example, a design by Luis Barragan.
By controlling the light he created different spatial conditions, on the outer spaces he
controlled with light through volumes and façade colors.

The last element Frampton pointed to is the Tectonic form:

By that he is trying to mention how does architecture qualities relates to the earth in terms of
construction basis.
In this example of Alvaro Sizar, he is trying to show how the architecture is embedded to the
surrounding frame, the design and the materials referring to a local tradition.
We can realize that in the usage of tiled roof
Plastered brick walls.
Another example, the design Tadao Ando, Koshino residence.
Again the material, the colors and the design showing how the volumes are merging with the
frame.

For Frampton, the critical regionalism goes beyond visual forms, through critical regionalism he
made a plea to move from visuals to what he called tactile aspects.
By tactile I mean the qualities of the building, the used materials, and the visual aspects that
material, in other words the tactility of the space.

Recent example of the critical regionalism: Teopan cultural center.

A reaction to the existed topography can be seen, also the building relation with its landscape,
how its merging with the earth and the surrounding elements.
a 2nd example, a library project in Africa.
Responding to the context local materials were used, natural stone walls and bricks.
The idea of tactility were also applied, a response to the climate, and controlling of light can be
realized.